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34
Ethics, Self- Interest, and the Public Good
the liberty they enjoy, and it is a failure not only if men [ and women]
use it to do wrong, but also if they use it to do nothing, or as little
as possible to maintain themselves in personal comfort. This is
true of our institutions as a whole and of the American college in
particular…. the warfare of civilization is waged not more upon the
battlefield than in the workshop, at the desk, in the laboratory, and
the library…. the crucial matter in civilization is the preparedness of
young men [ and women] for the work of the world; not only an ample
supply of the best material, but a product moulded on the best pat-tern,
tempered and finished to the highest point of perfection.”
In conclusion, let me summarize why I think North Carolina has been fortunate in
differing from so many other states on the subject of this lecture.
I believe that the culture of political ethics in North Carolina, reinforced by
three centuries of statewide friendships and networks as well as honorable politi-cians,
has been strong enough to reinforce political candidates and government of-ficials
in resisting and shunning temptation. Moreover, political elites and the gen-eral
culture in NC seem neither to expect such corruption nor to tolerate it when it
occurs. And one of the most important, maybe THE most important reasons is the
existence in North Carolina, over a long period of time, of a large group of citi-zens,
many of them perhaps even most of them, educated at UNC Chapel Hill, who
have been selflessly committed to the public good. Some of them are here with us
this afternoon but all of them constitute the most powerful bulwark against cor-ruption
that any jurisdiction could possibly have. Some of them are the lawyers all
across NC who, on their own without any personal motivation, rose up to call on
the State Bar to take action against District Attorney Nifong. Some of them are the
Conclusion

34
Ethics, Self- Interest, and the Public Good
the liberty they enjoy, and it is a failure not only if men [ and women]
use it to do wrong, but also if they use it to do nothing, or as little
as possible to maintain themselves in personal comfort. This is
true of our institutions as a whole and of the American college in
particular…. the warfare of civilization is waged not more upon the
battlefield than in the workshop, at the desk, in the laboratory, and
the library…. the crucial matter in civilization is the preparedness of
young men [ and women] for the work of the world; not only an ample
supply of the best material, but a product moulded on the best pat-tern,
tempered and finished to the highest point of perfection.”
In conclusion, let me summarize why I think North Carolina has been fortunate in
differing from so many other states on the subject of this lecture.
I believe that the culture of political ethics in North Carolina, reinforced by
three centuries of statewide friendships and networks as well as honorable politi-cians,
has been strong enough to reinforce political candidates and government of-ficials
in resisting and shunning temptation. Moreover, political elites and the gen-eral
culture in NC seem neither to expect such corruption nor to tolerate it when it
occurs. And one of the most important, maybe THE most important reasons is the
existence in North Carolina, over a long period of time, of a large group of citi-zens,
many of them perhaps even most of them, educated at UNC Chapel Hill, who
have been selflessly committed to the public good. Some of them are here with us
this afternoon but all of them constitute the most powerful bulwark against cor-ruption
that any jurisdiction could possibly have. Some of them are the lawyers all
across NC who, on their own without any personal motivation, rose up to call on
the State Bar to take action against District Attorney Nifong. Some of them are the
Conclusion